Louis Chan
Louis Chan Juk-Liu (simplified Chinese: 陈彧潦; traditional Chinese: 陳彧潦; pinyin: Chén Yùlǎo; often styled Louis Juk-Liu Chan; born 18th September 1961) is a Tabi'atstani military officer and politician, and is the incumbent President of the USSRT. Early life Louis Juk-Liu Chan was born in the city of Biancheng in the Xiaoyuan province of the USSRT on the 18th September 1961. His family purportedly belongs to the former Liaotangese nobility, and is of highly diverse ethnic variety. Although the exact inheritance of noble titles is unclear, it is believed that Chan would technically be a count (開國伯; kaiguo bo) had the Liaotangese Empire survived. One of his maternal great-uncles joined the British Army in 1912 (the Liaotangese court had an agreement with the United Kingdom that allowed Liaotangese citizens to serve in British units stationed in Carronlera and Ilbrook), but left the British Armed Forces in 1915 and became a supporter of communist forces during the Tabi'atstani Civil War. In 1975, Chan joined the Komsomol. He graduated from La Salle Secondary School in Biancheng in 1978 and joined the Communist Party of Tabi'atstan in 1979. Chan deferred his military service to continue studying at a higher level and acquired a specialist's degree in History from the Qal'eh Manar State University in 1982. He then graduated as a Candidate of Science in Historical Sciences in 1985, also from Qal'eh Manar State University. He is one of the few leaders of Tabi'atstan or a socialist state to have studied a subject not related to science or engineering (notable non-Tabi'atstani examples include Egon Krenz and Henryk Jabłoński). Military career After graduating as a Candidate of Science, Chan studied in the Qal'eh Manar Military Commander's Training School, and graduated in 1987 with the rank of captain. Later in the same year, he was promoted to major. In 1989, with the beginning of the Laconian Revolt, Chan was deployed to East Valreșia, where he was in command of an infantry company. His unit was tasked with the rescue of the Soviet ambassador to East Valreșia, who had become trapped in the Soviet embassy in the capital of East Brășani after the conflict started, which it succeeded in doing. After the end of the Laconian Revolt, Chan returned to the USSRT and was promoted to the rank of colonel, skipping the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was also given the Valreșian Military Merit Cross First Class by the East Valreșian government for his actions during the Battle of East Brășani. Entry into politics After his service in East Valreșia, Chan was deployed to Kalpala, a comparatively calm and peaceful station, as a reward for his deeds in East Valreșia and also due to his expertise in Kalpalan history. In 1993, Chan retired from the military and began teaching at his alma mater but also entered politics, becoming a member of the Supreme Soviet of Tabi'atstan in 1994. In 1997, Chan was appointed a member of the Presidential Staff under President Liu Sutai as one of Liu's aides. In 1998, Chan was made a member of the CPT Politburo and Party Secretary of his home province of Xiaoyuan. As Party Secretary, he promoted egalitarianism in local economics and tried to reduce economic inequality caused by the Tajdeed reforms. This made him popular among both neo-leftists and the conservatives in the Communist Party of Tabi'atstan, as well as the lower and middle classes of Xiaoyuan. His casual style also came in stark contrast with typical CPT leaders. In 2000, Chan gained enough support to be made a Presidential candidate, and was particularly favoured by the older members of the CPT who felt that he was following the socialist spirit of the party. However, his bid to become President of the country ultimately failed, and the post was given to Yuri Pashenko, a reformist politician. Despite this, he maintained his position as Party Secretary of Xiaoyuan, and was also made political commissar of the province's local TRA units. Second Tabi'atstani Civil War As Party Secretary of Xiaoyuan province, Chan worked with Colonel General Lin Chengjun in organising anti-partisan operations during the Second Tabi'atstani Civil War. The two raised a large Territorial Army in Xiaoyuan as per the instructions of the Defence Council, and combined with Lin's professional 9th Army, this created a situation where Chan and Lin were essentially free to do as they liked within the southwestern province. After the end of the war, the Politburo scrambled to find a suitable candidate to vote in as leader of the USSRT. The thirty-member committee decided that any candidate must be a hardliner who would maintain the communist party's monopoly on power in the USSRT and have the determination to maintain order in the country, even through the use of force. Although there were several other candidates with distinguished credentials, such as Javosh Argand and Andrey Markovic, many of Chan's other opponents had died in mysterious circumstances, the most notable being Nazar Pasternak. Furthermore, the Politburo recognised that his large influence over significant parts of the military could throw the USSRT into another civil war if they challenged him, and his supporters amongst the orthodox party members could cause a split within the CPT itself. As such, the Politburo prepared to vote Chan in as Chairman of the Communist Party of Tabi'atstan as well as calling on the National Revolutionary People's Assembly of Tabi'atstan to make him President of the USSRT. As a final show of force, Chan and Lin marched into the capital city of Qal'eh Manar with the 9th Army after being summoned to the city by the Politburo. President On the 6th June 2003, Chan was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party of Tabi'atstan and Chairman of the Defence Council. On the 7th September 2003, Chan was elected President of the USSRT by the National Revolutionary People's Assembly, cementing his position as leader of the USSRT. Immediately after becoming President, Chan declared martial law with the aim of stabilising the political situation in the country, with this state of emergency lasting until March 2005. Shortly afterwards, on the 21st September 2003, Chan declared himself Supreme National Leader of the USSRT, a title not used since the death of former-President Lyudin. As an ex-colonel, Chan had the support of the military establishment, as shown by their reaction to his march on Qal'eh Manar. To increase support from the general populace and improve the level of national unity, Chan also visited small villages to hear local grievances. He also began an anti-corruption campaign to remove corrupt officials from the government and the party. Among politicians, he was popular for his hardline political approach, and his nationalist social policies had wide appeal. The political establishment, which had turned invariably conservative after the civil war, also believed that Chan would be able to restore law and order to Tabi'atstan. Furthermore, many senior politicians believed that they could influence or control the comparatively young and inexperienced Chan. By the mid-2000s, Chan had cultivated an image of being a dynamic and patriotic leader, in comparison with the blander and more orthodox old guard of the CPT or the Pachenko-style reformists. Furthermore, he had turned out to be adept at avoiding the attempts by elder statesmen and party members to exert their influence on him, and had dealt with most of them by "promoting" them to positions of nominally great importance but of little actual power. This was sometimes even done with the agreement of the person being transferred, and Chan often made it such that decisions were made in a manner that it seemed as though it was by party consensus, thus avoiding any notions that Chan was coercing anyone into doing anything. Certain other members of the political establishment were also dealt with in his campaign against corruption. In late June 2007, Chan purged Major General Ilia Yefimovich Lagunov, leader of the Tabi'atstani Revolutionary Guards, who was arrested on charges of factionalism, and had several other high ranking TRG leaders imprisoned as well. Chan then placed his trusted associate, Farshid Arash Mokri in charge of the TRG instead. Chan had been worried that the TRG might attempt to launch a counter-coup against him, as it had not supported his taking power in 2003, but with the purge against its leadership, he was now assured that it would not be a threat against his rulership. By the early 2010s, official positions displayed Chan as a guardian of stability in Tabi'atstan who had brought about consistent and steady growth to the country. Cult of personality Personal life Habits Personality Residences In comparison to the previous president of Tabi'atstan, Liu Sutai, who owned a massive dacha equivalent to a palace, Chan opted to move into a relatively modest 1,200 square foot apartment located near the government quarter of Qal'eh Manar. Chan also owns a dacha in the form of a 2,500 square foot house near Mezgoryo in Poseleniskaya province, and maintains his old apartment in Biancheng. Religion Theorist Dates of rank *Captain (1987) *Major (1987-1989) *Colonel (1989-1993) *''Retired from military service (1993-2000)'' *Deputy Commander for Political and Educational Matters of the 9th Army (2000-2003; equivalent to Lieutenant General) *Marshal of the USSRT (2003-present) Distinctions Works *Investigation Into the Dimensions of Monodonta labio in Regards to Distance From the Sea *Population Densities of Planaxis sulcatus on the Beaches of Kamanj Bay *Militarisation and the Livelihood of the People *石油峰值的问题 ("The Problem of Peak Oil") *Urban Regeneration in the Roujan District of Qal'eh Manar *A Study of the Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty *Indigenous Agricultural Practices of Botswanan Fruit Farmers *The Boxer Rebellion, Spirit Possession, and Their Effects on Culture in the Coastal China Region *Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Binomial Classification System (With Particular Focus on the Great Compendium of Herbs) *The Issue of Female Genital Mutilation on the African Continent and its Effects on Health *The Portrayal of the Japanese Aggression Within the Museums of Qal'eh Manar *Communism in the Pearl of the Orient - A Study Of The 1967 Riots *Khalqnameh (The Book of the People) *Democratisation and Anarchism Category:Tabi'atstan Category:Tabi'atstani Category:Military of Tabi'atstan Category:Presidents of the USSRT Category:Politics of Tabi'atstan